After watching the game tape in practice on Wednesday, coach Rebecca Hornbacher estimated that the ISU women’s soccer team had the ball in the Hawkeyes end of the field for at least 35 of the 45 minutes in the second half.

“[The game tape] simplified the fact that we were very dangerous, and we had a lot of scoring opportunities,” Hornbacher said.

When all was said and done, the Cyclones (3-4 overall) had taken only three more shots than the Hawkeyes in Wednesday’s overtime loss. The lack of shots was the root of the scoring problem that led to the 1-0 overtime loss.

With only three nonconference games left, the Cyclones want to put together two complete games this weekend when they head east to face the Weber State Wildcats (2-2-2) and the Colorado College Tigers (3-1-0).

The Tigers will be hosting the Colorado College Tournament in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Sophomore forward Leslie Hill said the team has yet to reach its full potential.

“One day it’s one thing, one day it’s the next,” Hill said.

“We need to fix our mistakes. I expect everyone to come out and be ready to work [this weekend].”

Iowa State excelled in several facets of Wednesday’s game including controlling the possession, passing, ball-winning and defense. Despite repeatedly threatening to score, the Cyclones didn’t finish possessions with goals.

“[For] the offense, it isn’t about beating the players, we just needed to be trigger-happy,” Hill said.

“The defense was amazing. It’s our job to score, and we didn’t get our job done.”

The loss to Iowa didn’t sit well with the team.

“Losing to a team that we are better than sucks. We need to come out every game and prove what we can do,” Hill said.

Hornbacher said the team was too picky in its shot selection.

“We need to be better at not looking for the perfect chances,” Hornbacher said. “We need to pull the trigger. We need to look to take a shot, especially in the 18-yard box. We need to do a better job of eliminating the extra touches . We allowed the defense to close in on us.”

Weber State qualified for the 2005 NCAA Tournament out of the Big Sky Conference, while the host, Colorado College, returns seven players from a 7-8-3 season a year ago.

Junior Erin Witte said the team hasn’t learned too many specifics about either of the other teams. She said it’s just a matter of the Cyclones putting things together.

“We have all the talent, we just need to put it all together so we can get some wins and go into conference over .500,” Witte said. “It’s all about getting used to each other . I know we’ve played a lot of games, but we have a young team.”

Hill said she is expecting two wins and a tournament title. The Cyclones won the Diadora Classic last weekend. Hornbacher said she expects a challenge from two “respectable” teams.

“I think we have a hard non-conference schedule,” Hornbacher said. “If we are able to go into the conference a better team for it, then that’s what is important.”